A cross-cultural analysis of teachers' and parents' perception of and attitudes toward conflict situations : An attributional approach

Kurachi Akemi

Japanese Psychological Research

Teachers and mothers in Japan and the United States were shown three critical incidents involving a typical type of conflict between a mother and a teacher relating to the hypothetical mother's child. The subjects were asked what the mother in the situation would feel and how she would behave. A sample of 400 parents and teachers located in five geographic locations in each country were given the questionnaire. A total of 304 usable responses were analyzed. In order to distinguish between the responses of American mothers, American teachers, Japanese mothers and Japanese teachers, discriminant analyses were carried out for each incident. Almost a11 the first discriminant functions distinguished sharply between the American and Japanese groups. In addition, ANOVAs and ANCOVAs were carried out for each incident with culture and role as subject classification factors. The results showed differences in patterns of response which can be attributed to differences in culture. These findings have implications for and raise several fundamental questions about the educational systems and the educational policies of both countries.

role functions

interpersonal perceptions

perceptual attributions

behavioral attributions

conflict situations

critical incidents

eng

日本心理学会 : The Japanese Psychological Association

[ISSN] 0021-5368

[NCID] AA00239634